


Nerve

by jordahparrish



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Max is a genius, Shapeshifting, This could get confusing since there's a lot of shapeshifting, brief almost-sex moment with malec, but try to follow, sebastian is evil af
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-31
Updated: 2016-12-31
Packaged: 2018-09-13 13:45:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9126280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jordahparrish/pseuds/jordahparrish
Summary: Alec and Magnus are finally going to have their much needed alone time, but the sound of the intruder cuts them short. Max notices difference in Alec when he returns to the Institute, but the others don't seem to notice anything.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Suggestion - Listen to 'Nerve' and 'Everybody' by Don Broco and picture the fighting scenes happening to those because those picturing fight scenes to those songs are what inspired me to come up with this idea.
> 
> So this was going to be a multi-chapter but the chapters wouldn't have been long so it worked better as a oneshot.

It was a month or so into Alec’s relationship with Magnus, they were comfortable, happy. Alec liked being with the warlock, he felt safe. Magnus kept Alec’s mind preoccupied, he stopped thoughts about Jace. Jace was still missing, he was still with Valentine - the only hope Alec had of knowing Jace was still alive was his parabatai bond. He hadn’t felt Jace die. Then again he barely felt anything from his Parabatai bond now. 

Life hadn’t exactly changed, but it had shifted. Simon had moved in with Magnus, which meant life was even more eventful for Magnus. He had to babysit the little fledgling now. 

Maybe Alec could suffer Simon on his best days. Maybe. Simon was like a twitch to Alec, he was irritating. But he existed, and he probably wouldn’t go away too soon. But Alec could put up with him.

Alec and Magnus had tried to be alone multiple times but thanks to Magnus’s new roommate being a dorky talkative eighteen year old vampire they never really got to have their own time. Three times he walked in when Alec was taking his shirt off, four times he walked in when they were about to take their pants off and one time he had walked in when they were about to start foreplay. 

It was torturous. So Alec had begged for Clary and Izzy to get Simon out one night, so he could finally have his time with Magnus. The two girls agreed, seeing the desperation in Alec’s eyes. So they planned a ‘surprise spontaneous late night shopping trip’, one that Simon had to join in with. Of course he had argued why they were focusing on shopping whilst Jace was still off with Valentine but they simply said hat they’d be scanning the area whilst they were shopping - besides, the little vampire needed more style if he was going to be a creature of the night. 

“At last,” Magnus chuckled as he pushed Alec down onto the bed, “we’re alone.”

“Who knows how long he’ll last with them though,” Alec whispered.

“He’s with your sister and Clary, they’re his two favourite people, I think we have a while.”

They laughed together as they leaned in for a kiss, one kiss, two kisses, three kisses. Magnus’s hands were already fumbling with Alec’s pants. Alec didn’t protest at all, Izzy had always called him repressed so it was about time he finally did something - right? It had to be. 

Somehow, it took them almost ten minutes to get down to their underpants. They were far too distracted by hungry kisses to get it done quickly. 

Magnus placed his hand on Alec’s thigh, he slowly moved it up and hooked his finger around the elastic of Alec’s boxers.

Alec was about to let out a laugh, but they both jumped when they heard a noise that seemed to come from the entrance of Magnus’s home. 

“You heard that too,” Magnus whispered.

“Uh, yeah,” Alec shrugged, “I’m sure it was nothing though,” he smiled again and pressed a reassuring kiss on Magnus’s lips.

Then there was another sound, a louder sound, it sounded as though one of Magnus’s vases had smashed. The couple went silent, only to hear an odd, eerie voice call Magnus’s name.

“Magnus Bane,” Alec had never heard the voice before, and he could tell Magnus hadn’t either, “I know you’re in here.”

Magnus got up as though he were going to leave and find out just who was in his home but Alec stopped him.

”You’re not going out there Magnus, I’ll go, my bow and quiver are just outside the room. Wait here, I’ll be right back,” he winked to Magnus and then left the room.

Thinking it through, maybe Alec wasn’t smart to look for the intruder when he was clad in his underwear. But he had an excellent aim so he didn’t need to worry that much. He looked over to where his bow and quiver had been left to see… Nothing. 

His eyes darted around the room in search for his weapon. 

Essentially, in search for his weapon, he was dropping his guard.

That was a mistake.

He knew it was a mistake when an arrow pierced his left shoulder. He turned around quickly, realising that the intruder now had his weapon. Alec had no idea what he was expecting but he knew that what he saw was definitely not anything he would have thought of. 

He looked at the figure holding his bow, a grin covered the attacker’s face. 

He was staring at himself.

“Nice outfit,” the intruder hissed sarcastically, “and thanks for the weapon,” they chuckled quietly and then jumped forward. The attacker swung out their arm, making the bow strike Alec’s head and knocking him to the floor.

Alec looked up, prepared to jump up and fight the intruder but whoever they were had already pulled out another arrow and was aiming it directly for Alec’s head.

”Make a move and say goodbye to your life,” they whispered, “say anything, and say goodbye to yourself, your whore warlock and your insufferable family.”

Alec wished he could have defended everyone he loved but he couldn’t. He looked down at the floor in silence.

“That’s what I thought,” the intruder laughed and shot the arrow into Alec’s leg. Alec wanted to scream but he knew what would happen if he did. The attacker gave him a wicked smile before, once again, striking his head with the bow. This time knocking him unconscious.

* * * * * 

Magnus sat impatiently on his bed, scared for Alec. He couldn’t stay like this, he was the High Warlock of Brooklyn!

He jumped up from his bed and rushed out to help out. 

As he got out of the room he saw Alec stood with the bow and arrow in his hand - still in his underwear, and an unrecognisable blond boy in baggy black clothing unconscious on the floor.

“Who’s that?” Magnus asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Who knows,” Alec shrugged, “but he’s unconscious now. Magnus we need to get to the Institute, it will be safe there,” he set his hand on Magnus’s shoulder and gave him a small smile.

“What about him?”

”Leave him here, he’ll go rushing back to his boss I’m sure.”

“And if he comes after us?”

“I doubt he’d get into the Institute,” Alec scoffed, “come on, let’s get dressed and go.”

Magnus nodded and followed Alec back to the bedroom. The boy didn’t seem at all shaken by the attack, but he was a Shadowhunter after all. They both quickly pulled on their clothes, Magnus knew that the intruder could regain consciousness at any moment. Once he was dress he waved his hands and created a portal to the Institute.

Alec smiled over to him as they both ran through the portal. 

“Thanks,” Alec whispered as they entered the Institute from the portal.

Magnus grabbed Alec’s arm as they moved, “you should probably call Izzy, tell her to bring Simon here - we can’t send him back to my place.”

“Right,” Alec looked around and waved a hand to Lydia who was approaching them with a small smile, “Lydia, can you call Izzy for me, tell her to come back to the Institute straight away, and to bring Simon.”

”Uh, sure,” Lydia nodded as she pulled out a phone.

Alec then grabbed Magnus’s hand and pulled him through the Institute, wanting to get past all of the Shadowhunters who were busy scanning the area. 

“Alec!” 

Magnus watched Alec turn curiously as they heard the child’s voice. Then he saw Max running towards the taller Lightwood, he stopped by Alec and smiled up at him.

”Is this your magical boyfriend?”

Alec glanced over his shoulder to Magnus, “uh, yeah.”

“Hi,” Max ran up to Magnus’s side and held up his hand, “I’m Max.”

“I’m Magnus,” Magnus crouched down to be the same height as Max, he shook his hand and gave him his sweeted smile, “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you too,” Max laughed, “Alec likes talking about you.”

“That’s great Max, but Magnus and I need to go discuss big boy things in my room so… Run along,” Alec ordered to his younger brother, Magnus saw Max pull an odd face before leaving them alone. 

“Big boy things?” Magnus raised an eyebrow and shook his head, “oh boy.”

“Shut up,” Alec rolled his eyes and waved for Magnus to start walking to his room. Magnus walked in front of Alec and made his way to the Shadowhunter’s room, Alec followed him. 

* * * * * 

Alec’s vision was blurry to begin with but after a few blinks he managed to focus on his surroundings - what he could see anyway. He was in a dark room. He felt the familiar sting of a rune in his arm. He managed to look over to his arm to see somebody running a stele over a rune he definitely didn’t have on his arm before.

”Wh-what?” He blinked again and looked at the person who was holding the stele, there was no way it was who he thought it was, “Jace?”

“Hey,” the blond gave him a sad smile.

“What… What rune is that?” He questioned, “why do I have it?”

“Shapeshifting rune, Lydia has one, remember?.”

“Wh-why do-”

“Sebastian did it, he basically swapped places with you. Shapeshifted as you and shapeshifted you as him.” 

“He’s…”

“He took Magnus to the Institute, for ‘safety’. In reality, they’re going to attack the Institute, getting everyone there will just… Herd them all together.”

“You have to let me go, we have to sa-”

Jace shook his head, “I- I can’t Alec.”

“Why not?” Alec snapped.

”I’ve been ordered to keep you here,” Jace whispered, obviously ashamed that he was following his orders, “I can’t let you go.”

Alec let out a cold laugh, “great, being held captive by my own brother, thanks Jace.”

“Trust me Alec, please.”

* * * * *

Max tugged on Lydia’s jacket as she ended her call. She looked down to him and raised an eyebrow.

”Hey Max, what’s up?”

“I’m scared,” he whispered in his childish tone.

“Why?” Lydia let out a small chuckle as she crouched down to Max’s height.

”Alec’s being weird.”

Lydia shook her head and tutted, “I’m sure he’s just… Going through things right now. Perhaps his relationship with Magnus is just altering him slightly.”

“But he didn’t change when he was with you!”

“That was very different Maxxie,” Lydia ruffled the young boy’s hair and stood up as Izzy and Clary entered the Institute with their young vampire friend in tow.

“Why the rush home, Lydia?” Izzy stopped by her side and crossed her arms.

Lydia sighed, “I don’t know, Alec just ordered me to get you guys back here,” she tapped her chin in thought, “maybe he’s being a little odd today. I don’t know what’s going on but… Yeah.”

“Reckon Victor’s going to put us on another shut down,” Clary scoffed, “why would Alec want to get everyone here in a rush?”

“Maybe someone’s planning an attack,” Simon mumbled, “is Magnus okay?”

”He’s here,” Lydia placed a hand on Simon’s shoulder, knowing the boy would worry about his newest friend, “he went to Alec’s room with him.”

“Okay, good, good. I should go say hi, let him know I’m okay.”

Clary pulled a face at her friend, “Simon-” She tried to speak her friend out of it but he was already on his way through the Institute. Clary and Izzy ended up following him, they could have tried to stop him but he was pretty fast even without the vampire stealth. 

Simon opened the door without knocking and grinned to the two men who were sat on Alec’s bed.

“Hey Magnus, I just thought I’d let you know that I’m okay, I’m safe.”

Clary and Izzy entered behind him, prepared for Alec’s reaction. 

“Thank God for that,” Magnus chuckled, “can you maybe… Leave for now? Alec and I were kind of having a private conversation.”

“Right, sorry.”

“It’s alright,” Alec shrugged, making eye contact with Simon, “maybe knock next time.” 

“Y-yeah,” Simon nodded and backed out of the room, Clary and Izzy shared a quick glance before following Simon.

”That wasn’t weird at all,” Clary mumbled, “I was expecting him to yell at you.”

“So was I,” Izzy shrugged almost carelessly, “maybe him and Magnus got to have sex after all, he might be in a good mood. If you know what I mean.”

Clary giggled, “one orgasm later, Alec Lightwood is the kindest guy ever.”

Izzy made a loud ‘pfft’ noise before letting out a loud string of laughter, “imagine if that was how life worked. You have sex, and poof - you’re a nicer person.”

* * * * *

Alec pulled on the shackles around his wrists and then glared up at Jace, “I can’t believe my own brother is keeping me chained up.”

“If it makes you feel better, I didn’t put you there.”

“You sat and watched, right?”

“Well… Yeah.”

Alec pulled a face and glared down at the ground. He loved Jace, but he just sat and watched whilst he was being chained up. Alec tugged on the shackled again and let out a low growl, “so what thrill do you get out of this Jace? What does Valentine get out of this?”

“He’s going to attack the Institute, with Sebastian on the inside it’ll be easier - since you were there at Magnus’s, I guess you were his perfect target. I’m pretty sure he was planning on shapeshifting as Magnus but since you were there he changed into you instead.”

Alec thought carefully, would he have been fooled if Sebastian had swapped himself in for Magnus? He probably would have. But in the current state, was Magnus fooled by the fake Alec? What if he was? What if they were kissing? What if they were touching? Alec closed his eyes and tried to forget about it, but it was somewhat painful - thinking that his boyfriend could be fooled into something like that.

“Alec?” 

He looked up to the blond who was giving him a sad smile. Jace still looked so sweet, but he looked worn down, exhausted. Alec hadn’t notice that in the few moments he had been awake.

“What’s up buddy?”

Alec shuffled and gave Jace a quick puppy face, “if I stay here, people could get hurt.”

“If I let you go, Valentine will kill everyone.”

“If you don’t let me go, he’ll kill everyone,” Alec hissed.

Jace paused, he glanced at Alec. Alec could see the guilt surface on Jace’s face.

”Y-you’re right.” 

Alec pulled at the shackles, “Jace I need to protect them!”

“Valentine is still here,” Jace whispered, he crouched down next to his brother and placed a hand on his cheek, he leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together, “I have a plan.” Alec glanced down as Jace unlock the shackles that bound his wrists. He then unshackled Alec’s ankles and pulled up his own sleeve, “pull up your sleeve.”

Alec did so, seeing the twists of the Shapeshifting rune sketched on his arm, Jace examined the rune for a moment before moving his stele to his own arm.

* * * * * 

Lydia stopped outside of Alec’s room and pressed her back against the wall, Max’s words of Alec acting weird had been playing on her mind constantly since he had said it. She slowly moved towards the door and wished that perhaps there was a slight chance of being open. She poked her head around the door frame and was pleased to see the smallest crack between the door frame and door. 

She gently pushed the door so the crack opened up a bit more. She looked through the opening, unfortunately Magnus and Alec weren’t in view from the crack. She would have given up, but she noticed the mirror in the room. She pressed her lips together and pulled her stele out. She quickly ran the stele over her Voyance rune and looked back into the room. In the reflection she could make out Magnus and Alec clearly, Magnus was sat on the bed and Alec was stood up talking. But there was something, something that just didn’t seem right. 

Alec was different. His hands were still, staying by his side. Alec’s hands were never by his side. They were always held out, or he was fidgeting with them. They were never ever by his side - Lydia was certain. She focused on the boy, her former fiance. He didn’t fidget at all as he explained their safety to Magnus. 

“We’ll be safer here,” he commented in a meaningful tone, the emotion was clear in his voice.

Lydia knew Alec better than many people did. Sure, Jace, Clary, Magnus and Izzy knew Alec the best. But Lydia considered her own knowledge of Alec to be up there with theirs, she knew so many things about him.

And she knew in this moment, Alec wasn’t right. His voice wasn’t bland, but it definitely was filled to the brim with emotion either. Whoever this Alec was, they were far too dramatic. It was definitely not him. 

“Magnus, we need to make sure no Shadowhunter leaves the Institute.”

“Noone gets in and noone gets out?” Magnus responded quietly.

“Noone gets out,” Alec repeated almost too quiet to hear. Maybe Magnus didn’t question the repetition, but Lydia did. 

Noone gets out.

Lydia backed away from the door and rushed down the hall, she had to warn someone, something was going to happen and they had to stop it. She squealed as her body collided with someone else, in the next second or so she was pushing herself up from the floor. 

“Are you all right, Lydia? You probably shouldn’t be rushing around and not looking where you’re going,” she looked up to see Luke, grinning down at her. 

“Sorry I was blinded by panic,” Lydia jumped up to her feet and brushed herself down, “wait, what are you doing here?”

“Magnus called me, said Alec asked him to get his closest friends here for safety. Apparently we’re at risk of being attacked,” Luke rubbed the back of his head and glanced around, “by the angel, I guess Aldertree will be putting the entire place on lock down soon enough."

“Lockdown,” Lydia whispered, “Luke, listen I don’t think… I don’t think Alec is Alec.”

“What do you mean?”

Lydia pulled up her sleeve and held her arm out to Luke, “the shapeshifting rune, the user needs to take care with who they shift into. They need to know how to be the other person. I think someone has shapeshifted into Alec - but he hasn’t studied Alec’s body language enough.”

“How do you mean?” Luke raised an eyebrow, intrigued by the accusation.

“Alec fidgets with his hands a lot,” Lydia explained, “all the time, he has like some nervous fidget. And even if he’s not fideting them, he’s using them in some way. This Alec, this Alec isn’t using his hands at all,” she crossed her arms and glanced around the room, “he’s the one who has ordered us to stay here. If this intruder is working for Valentine, who knows what trouble we could be in.”

Luke held his finger to his lips and nodded down the hallway where Alec and Magnus appeared from Alec’s bedroom. Lydia put a false smile on her face when she saw the intruder. 

”Alec, hi.”

“Hey Lydia,” Alec responded with a smile, “are you all right?”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine, how about you?” She cocked her head to the side.

“Dandy,” Alec replied, he clapped his hands together and made his way past Lydia and Luke. Magnus gave Lydia a wink before following the intruder. Lydia knew she had to tell Magnus her suspicions at some point, but she couldn’t if he was by not-Alec’s side the entire time. 

“Dandy?” Luke mumbled under his breath.

“See!” Lydia’s eyes widened to Luke in an ‘I told you so’ fashion, “Max was right.”

* * * * *

Valentine opened the door and looked down at his son and their prisoner. He watched Jace lift his head and force a smile on his own face.

”Jace, I expect you’ll be staying here with our prisoner whilst we attack?”

“Uh, yes sir.”

“It was expected, if you change your mind at all-”

“I know where you’ll be,” he nodded, “of course. For now, I’ll be taking care of our prisoner,” he glanced down to Alec on the floor.

”By taking care, I don’t expect you to only be watching him,” Valentine hissed, “take care of him Jace, make sure he can never shoot straight again.”

“I think you’ll find I stopped shooting straight many weeks ago,” Alec mumbled under his breath earning a gentle kick from Jace, “sorry, not the time for comedy?”

Jace glared down at Alec and then up to Valentine with a small and false smile, “father, I’ll make sure he never cracks a stupid joke again.”

“Good,” Valentine nodded and placed his hand on Jace’s shoulder, “I’ll see you again soon, son.”

“Yes father,” Jace nodded.

Valentine left the room, he glanced back before closing the door behind him. He rushed through to another room and gave a wicked grin, “men, we attack on the hour!”

* * * * *

Alec let out a low and quiet laugh, he glanced down at the ‘prisoner’. 

“Smart plan,” he nodded as he looked down at his - well Jace’s - hands. 

Jace had drawn the shapeshifting rune on his arm and changed into Alec’s form, then he helped Alec to shapeshift into him. He had then unshackled Alec (as him) and swapped their places. Jace was playing Alec and Alec was playing Jace. They had already fooled Valentine so it was a pretty good plan. 

“You look good as me,” Jace commented, he winked up at Alec. Alec had to admit seeing himself wink was weird. He let out a scoff and crossed his very different arms.

“I feel weird, like being shorter - it’s weird.”

“Now now, no need to bring height into it,” Jace frowned as he fidgeted with the shackles around his wrists, “man these are really uncomfortable.”

“Trust me I know,” Alec crouched down to examine Jace, “so when I leave to catch up with Valentine, I leave you here… As me?”

”Yeah,” Jace nodded, “we’ll figure out what to do afterwards but in the mean time I think you being me is our best bet.”

“When Valentine returns, what if he means to kill me - and by me I mean you, but…”

“There’ll be some men left here to make sure I don’t free you when my father’s back is turned. They’ll let me go if I want to join in with the fight though. And I do - well you do. Look Alec, ”

“This is too confusing,” Alec mumbled, “okay okay so, I’ll go join in with the fight. I’ll say I changed my mind, when I get to the Institute I’ll find this Sebastian kid. I’ll go for him and-”

“Kill him,” Jace whispered, “it will be the only way to stop him for good.”

Alec nodded, “right, of course.”

“You can do it Alec.”

“What if Izzy… What if she thinks I’m you killing me? Then she’ll kill you, and you I mean me!”

Jace shook his (Alec’s) head, “you’ve said too many words, I don’t understand anything anymore. When Valentine leaves, take a few minutes and then follow him. Join him.”

Alec nodded slowly, it was obvious he was deep in thought, “I’m scared for you.”

“I’ll fight,” Jace reassured him. 

* * * * *

Max had tried to tell Izzy about Alec but she insisted Alec was just in a good mood because he had had his boy time with Magnus. Max knew what she meant by that and he knew that there was no way that was the case. Alec was different, he was absolutely different, he wasn’t right at all. He wasn’t him. 

Max knew his brother. He did. He knew that wasn’t him. 

He wished, more than anything, that he could do something about it. He wished he could help - but whoever was pretending to be his brother could have been a real threat to Max. He’d have no power against someone older, someone stronger. 

He grabbed his stele - which he was finally allowed to use again after the… Incident - and examined it. He wondered what damage he could do, what he could find out about the strange Alec. He couldn’t think of anything, perhaps he’d just have to take Izzy’s word for it, perhaps Alec was okay, perhaps his lovey times with Magnus just caused him to act differently. 

Then again, even if Alec was experiencing love, Max knew he wouldn’t act like this. He just wouldn’t.

Max watched as Alec walked around the Institute with Magnus following him closely, the boy was odd. His stature had changed, he walked differently, his shirt was half tucked in and half out and he never looked at the people who passed him. Even Max knew that Alec was always alert, he examined every person he walked past. Alec was just like that. 

Max jumped as he locked eyes with Alec, his ‘brother’ gave him some offended look before he sped up to approach the small boy. Max dropped his head and felt his body tense up as he heard Alec approaching. He wished he could turn invisible in that moment.

“Max, can you go wait in my room? I want to talk to you in a minute.”

Max looked around, “I…”

“Go to my room,” Alec whispered, it wasn’t a sweet whisper - in fact it was the most sinister whisper Max had ever heard. 

Max followed his instructions and rushed through the Institute to Alec’s room. Okay, perhaps he would be in danger - this imposter was going to ‘talk’ to him, and that was a terrifying thought.

* * * * *

Valentine had left on the hour and Alec had waited roughly ten minutes before pulling on the hoodie that Jace had taken off previously.

“You’re definitely going to be okay here?”

Jace nodded, “yeah, just go do what you have to do.”

Alec tugged the hood over his head and pulled a strand of the blond hair in front of his eyes, “I love you Jace.”

“Love you too buddy,” Jace leaned back against the wall and kept his eyes on Alec.

Alec moved towards the door, he stopped briefly to glance back to Jace before leaving the room. He made his way past a few men who had been ordered to stay guard, he gave them a quick nod and they didn’t question him at all. He made his way out of the abandoned building and began to make his way towards the Institute. He was going to do this, for his friends, for his family and for Magnus. 

In all honesty, Alec missed his longer legs, they let him move quicker. He knew what to do - catch up to Valentine, get into the Institute, grab a weapon and attack the intruder. It didn’t take too long to catch up with the group of Shadowhunters who were out for their hunt.

“Son,” Valentine called as he noticed the approaching figure, “you decided to join us.”

“Alec was getting cocky with me,” he lied through his teeth, “I couldn’t stay there, I knew what I had to do, what I have to do.”

“I think you’ve made the right decision Jonathan.”

Alec tried to avoid eye contact with Valentine, but after a second, he looked up into the man’s eyes, “I think so too.”

It was like some dramatic movie, a group of Shadowhunters making their way through the street. Of course they were all using their glamour, even Alec. No Mundanes would see them. Alec couldn’t believe that the transformation was fooling Valentine, it was so easy. He just needed to get to the Institute before anyone saw anything suspicious. He may have almost tripped over as he tried to get used to the shorter legs but nobody questioned it. Luckily. 

The crowd of Shadowhunters halted in front of the Institute, obviously waiting for a command from Valentine. The man, however, glanced over to Jace with a grin. 

“Jonathan, perhaps you should take the lead here, fool them into their safety, make them believe that you’re safe. Then let us in.”

“Y-yes father, of course,” Alec stuttered over his words before heading into the Institute. He could warn them all straight away, it would have been easy. 

It seemed that Valentine changed his mind though, the men began to follow Alec (as Jace) into the Institute almost immediately. Alec sped up, running in and making his way for the weapons straight away. Several Shadowhunters stopped to watch him, they were about to move to call for Victor or Maryse but they all froze as the men entered. Alec used his stele to open up the weapon storage and was pleased to see his bow and quiver. He quickly pulled them out and placed them over his shoulder. He glamoured the bow and quiver to avoid suspicion from Valentine’s men and then grabbed a seraph blade - it lit up in his hand immediately. 

Alec wasn’t particularly keen on using the seraph blades but he needed to seem like Jace, he had to let everyone believe it was him. He passed the unprepared Shadowhunters and made his way through to the hallway that lead to his bedroom. He paused outside the door, hearing talking from inside.

“Nobody will believe you, you’re just a child,” a voice similar to his own hissed quietly, “Even if they did, I’d kill you before you could say a word.”

“I want my brother back,” Alec’s eyes went wide, that was Max’s voice, “and you’re not him.”

Alec heard a loud noise and in a panic rushed into the room. He was greeted with the sight of himself glaring down at Max who was now lying down on the floor, possibly unconscious.

The fake Alec turned around, “Jonathan,” he smiled, “I didn’t expect to see you here. I thought you’d be looking after that freak friend of yours.”

“I changed my mind,” Alec bluffed, he looked down at Max and then back to the intruder, “what did you do?” He crouched down besides his own brother and cradled him.

“Knocked him out, obviously. The kid was going to tell everyone that I’m not Alec.”

“And how would you explain him being unconscious.”

In response, he shrugged and examined the back of his hand carelessly, “honestly, nobody would notice - nobody has time for a whiny little kid like him.”

Alec picked up his young brother and placed him on the bed, he glanced back to the fake Alec for a moment and then waved for him to follow, “come with me Sebastian, I’m sure my father would love to talk to you.”

Sebastian did so. Following who he thought was Jace out into the hallway. 

Alec saw the bright red hair out of the corner of his eye and chose that moment to take his hood down.

“Jace!” Clary let out a loud gasp, Alec heard following reactions from Lydia and Izzy. 

Alec looked over his shoulder to them and gave them a quick wink. He pulled out his seraph blade and swung it towards the fake Alec. Izzy and Clary seemed as though they were going to run over to him to stop him but they were stopped when several men began to attack them.

Alec really thought his surprise attack was going to work but unfortunately the intruder seemed to be one step ahead of him. He had a seraph blade of his own. The two continued to swing at each other, each time colliding their seraph blades. Alec spun on the spot and swiped the sword across Sebastian’s arm. 

Directly through the shapeshifting rune. 

He was almost like Jace, but with blonder hair and bluer eyes. He just looked like pure evil. 

“What are you playing at Jonathan?” He growled. 

By this point, Izzy, Clary and Lydia were each involved in fighting off men around them. 

“Funny you should ask that,” he took the blade to his own arm and cut through his rune, revealing himself, “I don’t like people impersonating me, and I definitely don’t like people hurting my brother,” he dropped the seraph blade and unglamoured his arrow and quiver. In one skilled motion he pulled an arrow out of the quiver and into position, he released it and let the bow fly towards Sebastian, but the boy simply caught it.

“Nice try you disgusting creature.”

”Says the one who hurt a child!” He shot another arrow, which Sebastian only caught again. 

Everyone in the hallway was caught off guard by a low growl, Alec glanced past Sebastian to see a wolf racing towards them. Sebastian turned, letting his own guard down. Alec shot an arrow into the back of his thigh. 

Sebastian turned and glared at Alec, “you won’t get me that easy gay boy!”

“Ooh harsh,” Alec sarcastically commented, “I’m so offended by my own sexuality.”

Sebastian sprung forward and swiped his seraph blade towards Alec. Alec backed away, he lost his balance and fell onto his back. Before he had a chance to react Sebastian had his foot on top of his chest. 

“You’re going to regret that,” Sebastian bent down and snatched the bow from Alec’s grip, “remember this?” He swung his arm and hit Alec’s head with the bow. 

* * * * *

Luke watched as the bow struck Alec’s head. Luke took the chance and rushed forward on all fours, he leapt and tackled the evil blond to the ground. The bow dropped to the ground and Sebastian struggled underneath Luke’s wolf form.

Luke went with his instincts and attacked the boy, claws and teeth. He could have ripped Sebastian apart if Jocelyn hadn’t called his name to stop him. 

“Luke!” 

He looked over to her.

“Get off of him.”

“Are you crazy?” Clary cried out as she defeated one of the men, “he’s evil, he-”

“He’s your brother,” Jocelyn rushed over to the blond boy on the floor.

“How many brothers do you have?” Lydia asked over her shoulder as she kicked the man away from her.

“I don’t exactly know anymore,” Clary whispered the response. As Izzy and Lydia defeated the men they were fighting, the trio of girls made their way over to the action. Izzy and Lydia rushed to Alec’s side whilst Clary stopped by her mother, “how can he be my brother? He’s very clearly pure evil.”

“He takes after your father, obviously,” Jocelyn crouched down next to the boy as though he were a young child. She pressed a hand against his cheek.

Luke had changed back into his human form, he raised an eyebrow in concern, “Jocelyn, this boy isn’t-”

“Jonathan,” Jocelyn whispered, “my son.”

“What?” Clary, Izzy, Lydia and Luke all called out at the same time.

“Ah, Jocelyn,” Valentine’s voice was clear over the panic throughout the Institute, “you know, you can help me take care of him.”

“But… Jace,” Clary began to whisper to herself.

“I tried to tell you he wasn’t your brother, Clary,” Jocelyn explained, “I tried-”

Clary shook her head, “don’t, don’t do this - not now. I have spent all this time believing Jace was my brother, believing that we had made a disgusting mistake, I believed that I was some kind of monster because I didn’t know he was my brother. Now you’re telling me that he isn’t Jonathan Morgenstern? Where is he?”

“Well, I thought he was here with us but it seems that stupid boy played switch with Alec. Which means he’s currently chained up in an abandoned building.”

“Where?” Clary surged forward holding her seraph blade ready to slice through Valentine’s throat.

”Oh that you won’t find out,” he tutted carelessly.

“I think we will,” Luke glared at Valentine and then looked over to Izzy, “where’s Magnus?”

“He was in my mom’s office last time I checked.”

Luke nodded and rushed past the girls, grabbing Clary’s hand as he ran. The girl struggled to keep up with him but she eventually managed to run in time with him. Luke pulled her through to the office and was relieved to see Magnus sat on top of the desk with his legs crossed. His eyes were closed and he had a pair of headphones on. He was completely clueless to what was happening. 

Luke walked over to him and placed a hand on Magnus’s knee, making the warlock jump back into consciousness. He pulled off the headphones and glared at Luke, “how dare you disrupt my ca-”

“We need you to track Jace,” Luke instructed.

“You don’t want Alec to do it?”

“Don’t get too worked up but Alec is currently unconscious,” Clary informed Magnus, being careful not to worry him. 

Magnus jumped off of the table and looked at Clary and Luke with wide eyes, “where is he?”

“Izzy and Lydia are with him,” Luke held his hand out to Magnus’s chest, Clary seemed surprised to see no reaction to the contact from Magnus, “we need you to track Jace, please.”

* * * * *

Jace woke up slowly, he looked up as he saw one of Valentine’s men walked in. 

“Get rid of the glamour,” he ordered in a gruff low voice.

“Wh-what?”

“Get rid of it,” the man snapped, holding out a seraph blade as he did.

“I-”

The man growled and sliced the seraph blade across Jace’s arm, it cut through the shapeshifting rune. Jace looked up with eyes full of sorrow when he shifted back to his own body.

“I c-can explai-”

“You tried to play Valentine,” the man was grinning as he glared at Jace, “Valentine let me know that the real Alec is currently unconscious at the Institute. He’ll be dead soon, just like the others.” 

In a panic Jace pulled at the shackles, hoping to free himself so lunge at the man.

“Nice try boy, but you can join them,” he swung his seraph blade around and Jace could tell at any moment he was going to swing at him. 

He closed his eyes, somewhat accepting his fate.

There was a loud crash, Jace kept his eyes closed throughout the ongoing action. He heard people attacking and he was hoping that whoever it was was defeating the man. He heard a growl and even with his eyes closed could see a bright flash. It was definitely a bright flash of magic. 

He opened his eyes, realising who had been the ones attacking. He saw the wolf first, Luke. Then the bursts of magic, Magnus. Then he saw the bright light of a seraph blade and strands of red hair falling out of a ponytail, Clary. 

Jace tugged on the shackles, wanting to join in, to help them. But he didn’t need to. He could see that as Clary kicked the man back, he stumbled and dropped his seraph blade. Then Magnus used his magic to whip the seraph blade far away from the man. Luke transformed back into his human form, knowing Clary could handle this herself. 

Clary brought her own seraph blade down at the man and-

Jace was surprised to see her in this light, the sweet girl who would probably chase after butterflies if she had the chance. She could kill a man, she had killed a man.

She looked devastated with herself, but when she looked over to Jace she smiled and ran over to him.

”You’re okay,” she whispered, she fell down onto her knees by his side and wrapped her arms around him, she placed a hand against his cheek and gave him a sweet smile, “you’re okay.”

Jace was shocked to feel her lips against his again, he pulled back (hitting his head on the wall as he did), “Clary what are you doing?”

“You’re not my brother,” Clary explained, “mom told me, and so did Valentine.”

“What?”

“I don’t know anything else, I just know you’re not my brother.”

“B-but-”

“The other blond boy, he’s my brother.”

“Sebastian?”

“Mom called him Jonathan…”

Jace pulled at his shackles, “c-can you use your stele on these?”

Clary did as he asked and unlocked the shackles, she placed a hand on his shoulder once he was free, “we’ve all missed you so much.”

Jace wrapped his arms around the redhead, he was safe now. He knew he could easily escape Valentine with her by his side. 

Magnus and Luke watched, Luke raised an eyebrow whilst Magnus tried to show a smile.

“Well this is all lovely,” he announced loudly, “but, my boyfriend is currently unconscious at the Institute and I’d prefer to check that he’s okay.”

Jace looked up, “Alec, Alec’s hurt?”

“Yes,” Magnus moved over to lift the blond boy up from the ground, “he also managed to weaken Sebastian,” he shrugged with a small smile, “now come on!”

* * * * *

Alec regained consciousness in time to push Izzy to the side so that she wouldn’t be injured, the man’s seraph blade struck the ground by Alec’s head and Alec was prepared for the man to take a swing at him but instead he was pulled back by Izzy’s whip.

“I don’t think so,” she pulled the man back, Alec watched as he slid along the floor towards Izzy. Izxy placed a heeled foot on the man’s chest, “this might hurt,” she hissed. Once Lydia had won her short battle with another man, she threw a seraph blade to Izzy, Alec and Lydia watched as Izzy swung down at the man. 

Alec pushed himself up once the man had gone, he saw how proud Izzy was of herself, and he was proud of her. 

Izzy and Lydia helped Alec up from the ground. He stumbled slightly but managed to catch himself on a table.

”Where’s Magnus? Is he okay? I need to-”

“He’s safe,” Lydia replied, “he’s with Clary and Luke, they’re saving Jace.”

Alec gave a smile, “o-okay.”

It went deadly silent in the Institute, Valentine had called off his men. There were Shadowhunters in pain, aiding other Shadowhunters. They knew there may have been a loss or two, but Valentine’s men had fled. Izzy recalled that she had directed Simon to Alec’s room so that he could make sure Max was okay. She pushed open the door and saw Simon, sat on the edge of Alec’s bed with Max cradled in his arm, he glanced around and flashed a smile.

“He still has a pulse,” he whispered, “I’m sure he’ll wake up soon.”

“Thank you Simon,” Izzy replied, placing a hand on his back. They turned around as Alec and Lydia entered the room.

“He’s okay?”

“Yeah, he’ll be fine,” Simon nodded, standing up with the unconscious boy in his arms, he walked over to Alec. Alec lifted Max from Simon’s arms and fought back tears.

“This… This is my fault for being so careless, we should have just left straight away, I shouldn’t have-”

“Stop,” Izzy held out a finger, “it’s not your fault. It’s Valentine’s.”

A portal appeared just outside Alec’s room, they watched through the doorway. First, Luke jumped out, instantly rushing down the hall. Then Clary, glancing back to the portal for…

”Jace!” Alec yelled out rushing forward to greet his brother, whilst still holding Max, “you’re okay.”

Finally the portal closed after Magnus stepped out, brushing the lapels of his jacket down. 

Jace placed a hand on Max’s head, “what happened to him?” 

“Sebastian,” Alec hissed, “disguised as me…”

Magnus had pause in the doorway, a face covered with guilt. Alec gently passed Max to Jace and then moved to the Warlock, “Magnus.”

“I’m so sorry Alexander,” he whispered, “I should have known it wasn’t… I’m an idiot. I should have known that wasn’t you!”

“It’s okay.”

“He didn’t even act like you but I was just so in love with the idea of having you that I pushed those thoughts aside, because I had you. I mean it wasn’t you but… I’m the worst-”

”I love you,” Alec whispered, silencing Magnus.

The frown on Magnus’s face turned into a smile, “I love you too.”

“For the record,” Lydia stepped forward, “Max knew it wasn’t you,” she placed a hand on Alec’s shoulder, “he did warn me, then I saw what he meant… The hand gestures weren’t there, he wasn’t you. It was obvious.”

“Well thanks for making me feel better,” Magnus rolled his eyes, “so, it’s really you, my Alexander?”

Alec grinned, “of course it’s me, you idiot,” he placed a kiss on Magnus’s forehead, “my idiot.”

“He’s waking up,” Jace called out, he rushed to the bed and placed him on the bed, “come on Maxxie, wake up, we’re here little brother.”

Izzy knelt down next to one side of the bed and Alec left Magnus to stand by the bed.

The group watched as Max’s eyes fluttered open, he instantly let out a groan and placed his hand to his head, he looked around obviously confused and his eyes stopped on Alec who had a tear or two falling down his cheeks.

“Alec! It’s you!” He grinned and sat up, holding his arms out for Alec.

“He’s so quick,” Izzy whispered as Alec quickly embraced their young brother.

“Duh,” Max responded, “nobody believed me about Alec when I noticed it straight away. I’m smarter than everyone.”

”You are Maxxie,” Alec let out a small laugh, glancing up to Jace with - happy to see both of his brothers safe and well again, “you are.”


End file.
